Bellator Feels The Have Upper-Hand In September Battle With UFC

Bjorn Rebney doesn’t believe it was all “coincidence” that the UFC announced a return to Connecticut on the same September night as Bellator’s scheduled show.

The two MMA promotions will go head-to-head roughly five miles from one another on September 5, as the UFC holds a Fight Night show from Ledyard, Connecticut, while Bellator 123 takes place in nearby Uncasville.

Rebney, in a statement to the Boston Herald, stated “(why) another MMA organization who rarely does Friday night events and who hasn’t held an event in Connecticut in a decade decided to do an event the same night, just a five minute drive from Mohegan at a small casino down the road.

“If you’re watching MMA on TV, the innovate leader is Spike TV and if you’re going to enjoy a world class event in Connecticut there’s only one place to go and that’s Mohegan Sun.”

While just one fight so far has been announced for either card, with Bellator inking James Irvin to face Brennan Ward, the report did cite a rumored match between former lightweight champion Michael Chandler and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. No word yet how that might play out, as Chandler is also rumored to be the next opponent for Eddie Alvarez.

A spokesperson with the UFC and FOX stated that the decision to head to Connecticut was penciled in over a year ago, with plans for Friday night being used because of scheduled college football games on FOX Sports 1 and 2 on Saturday night.